What Are The Exceptions To Regards Requirements For Naturalization ?

In order to become a citizen of the US, part of the procedure includes that you need to pass an English language exam and you need to pass the history and government examination as well. These are the hardest for most people.

The English exam requires that the applicants should be able to read, speak and write in English. The History and Government or Civics exam requires studying of 100 questions and answering 6 of the 10 questions which are asked to the person. It is stressful especially for those that are elderly and who have poor English language skills. There are a few exceptions and these are:

For the History and Government exam, the exception 65/20 states that those that are green card holders and who are 65 and older or have lived for at least 20 years in the US can take an easier version of the test. In this, they only need to study 20 questions rather than 100 questions. They will be asked 10 out of those 20 questions, and they need to pass 6 out of 10 in order to qualify.

The exception with regards the English exam states the 50/20 exception which means that those who are green card holders and who are either 50 years old or older and have lived in the US for 20 years or longer, can avoid taking the US exam. They can have their citizenship interview as well as the civics exam conducted in their native language using an interpreter.

The 55/15 exception states that those who hold a green card and who are 55 or older than it or have lived for at least 15 years in the US, can avoid the English exam and instead the interview for citizenship, as well as the civics exam, can be conducted in their native language using a foreign interpreter.